Thursday, June 18, 2015

The Dominican Republic’s “Ethnic Purging”

HAVANA TIMES- The Dominican Republic is set to begin what some are calling “ethnic purging,” placing the fate of hundreds of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent into limbo. Half a million legally stateless people could be sent to Haiti this week, including those who have never stepped foot in Haiti and don’t speak the language.

In 2013, a Dominican constitutional court ruling stripped the citizenship of children born to Haitian immigrants in the Dominican Republic as far back as 1929, retroactively leaving tens of thousands without citizenship. Today marks the deadline for undocumented workers to register their presence in the Dominican Republic or risk mass deportation. However, only 300 of the 250,000 Dominican Haitians applying for permits have reportedly received them. Many have actively resisted registering as foreigners, saying they are Dominican by birth and deserve full rights. Dominican authorities have apparently organized a fleet of buses and set up processing centers on the border with Haiti, creating widespread fears of mass roundups. The Dominican Republic’s decision to denationalize hundreds of thousands of people has sparked international outcry.

We are joined by the acclaimed Haitian-American novelist Edwidge Danticat. CONTINUES

UPDATE:

WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:

Pressure the government of the Dominican Republic to stop its planned "cleaning" of 250,000 black Dominicans.

In just a few days, the Dominican Republic will declare around 250,000 Dominicans of Haitian descent stateless. They will have no citizenship and no rights. Many of these people have no ties to Haiti and Haiti cannot support an additional quarter of million people as refugees. This is obviously an enormous human rights violation and warrants immediate action. https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/pressure-government-domin...